Yeast Isolated from Pulque for Application in Microbial Fuel Cells: Use of Food Industry Wastewater as Substrate

• Published in: Waste and biomass valorization Vol. 15; no. 3; pp. 1423 - 1438
• Main Authors: Reyes-Vidal, Yolanda, Pérez-García, Jesus Alberto, Manríquez, Juan, García-Sánchez, Pamela, Zuñiga-Corona, Yazmin, Bacame-Valenzuela, Francisco Javier
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.03.2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Biochemical fuel cells; Carbon; Cloth; Curve fitting; Electrolytes; Electrolytic cells; Energy research; Engineering; Environment; Environmental Engineering/Biotechnology; Food industries wastewaters; Food industry; Industrial Pollution Prevention; Microorganisms; Original Paper; Permeation; Renewable and Green Energy; Renewable energy; Sodium chloride; Substrates; Sulfuric acid; Waste Management/Waste Technology; Yeast; Yeasts; Microbial fuel cell; Yeast; Microbial electrochemical technologies; Pulque; Corn cooking industry effluent
• ISSN: 1877-2641; 1877-265X
• DOI: 10.1007/s12649-023-02230-4

Purpose In this work, exoelectrogenic potential of the yeasts isolated from traditional beverage in México (pulque) in an MFC when corn cooking industry effluent (CCIE) is used as substrate. Methods The yeasts were isolated in YPD and a screening was carried out with a sugar assimilation test, selecting the CR4 isolate for the bioelectrochemical tests. For these studies, CR4 was inoculated into a double-chamber MFC containing a carbon cloth (CFE) anode treated with H 2 SO 4 . YPD, CCIE and CCIE + NaCl were used as electrolyte. The i 0 , R ct and R mt were calculated by fitting polarization curves using the Butler–Volmer kinetic model. Results H 2 SO 4 acid treatment increased CFE electrolyte permeation by 3.8x and ionic charge in the barrier zone by 192.5x. CR4 yeast strain generated 222.34 mW/m 2 power density in YPD medium and 26.67 mW/m 2 using CCIE + 1% NaCl. Tafel analysis revealed mainly faradaic potential losses with R mt values of 223.117 ± 11.562 Ω in YPD and 1.399 ± 0.015 MΩ in CCIE + 1% NaCl. Conclusions Yeast strains from pulque show potential for MFC using CCIE as substrate. Biochemical characterization led to selecting strain CR4 for testing. Acid treatment of the carbon cloth electrode improved permeation and reduced resistance. CR4 yeast strain demonstrated promising EET capabilities for energy generation in MFC. This study highlights the viability of pulque yeast strains for renewable energy research. Graphical Abstract